The College Era

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Mall modifications

ALTON - Pardon their dust, but mall entrance demolition is under way at Alton Square.

Lori
Ehlers, mall manager for three years, said Alton Square is replacing
the signs and trusses framing three main doorways. The new framework
will hold curved metal canopies over the sidewalks.

The goal of
the construction is to "really make the entrances stick out," Ehlers
said. She said the changes will "renovate and rejuvenate the mall,"
"make it look current" and "create a more inviting environment."

Coyote
Management LP of Addison, Texas, bought Alton Square from Simon
Property Group of Indianapolis in August 2007 and now aims to lure new
vendors to open stores in the mall.

"A lot of retailers want us
to update the mall before they join the lineup here," Ehlers said.
"It's kind of a chicken-and-egg thing. This will show the retailers
that Coyote is investing in the mall and obviously believes in it, so
then they'll jump on board."

Areas set to undergo demolition and
renovation include the upper-level entrance near Savvi Formalwear, the
lower-level main entrance near the post office and the food court
entrance.

Construction workers already have torn down the old sign and framework at the Savvi entrance.

"That was the first one," Ehlers said. "We've done the demolition work and the framing work, and it's open, but it's not done."

Work
has begun at the main entrance. As of Tuesday, the crew was almost
finished with demolition at this second site. Constructing the new
framework, which takes approximately two days, will probably begin next
week, Ehlers said. The front entrance will be closed and barricaded
every weekday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. while crews work on it.

"All of this is overhead work, and we don't want people walking underneath, because they're tearing things down," Ehlers said.

Shoppers are welcome to use the front entrance after construction hours and during weekends.

Demolition near the food court will commence after crews build the front entrance frame.

"The
whole plan is to go from one entrance to another," Ehlers said. "We're
trying to avoid shutting down more than one entrance at a time. From
time to time, we might have to do that, because we have different
companies doing different things. We've got one company that's doing
the demolition and the framing, and another doing the welding."